The Raider-class corvette represented a corvette design utilized by the Galactic Empire's starfleet, with production overseen by Kuat Drive Yards. Notably, a Raider II-class variant, known as the Corvus, saw service with the elite Inferno Squad, and was later adopted by the squad of the New Republic and subsequently the Resistance.
The corvette of the Raider-class was a streamlined and spacious vessel, measuring 150 meters in length, accommodating a substantial crew. It was equipped with 3 engines and a hyperdrive system. The dark gray extensions present on the craft functioned as solar collectors, bearing a striking resemblance to those integrated into the starfighters of the TIE-series. These spacecraft could be operated by a pilot and a co-pilot, and were armed with ion cannons, dual heavy laser cannons, concussion missiles, and turbolasers. Additionally, the vessels incorporated a compact hangar located on the starboard side, capable of housing a minimum of 2 TIE fighters.
Within the Imperial forces, two corvettes of the Raider-class were integrated into a task force tasked with eliminating insurgent activity within the Umbara system, under the command of Admiral Carlou Gendling. Gendling's indecisiveness led to the destruction of one corvette and substantial damage to the other. In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, a Raider II-class corvette named the Corvus found use with the elite Inferno Squad, under the leadership of Commander Iden Versio, and remained in service with the squad up to the time of the Battle of Endor.
During the evacuation of Yavin 4, one corvette was situated within the hangar bay of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Rebel pilot Lieutenant Evaan Verlaine received the assignment to infiltrate the Destroyer and prolong the evacuation efforts. She commandeered the corvette and executed a ramming maneuver against the larger vessel, ejecting just before impact. This collision disrupted the Destroyer's targeting systems during its firing sequence, causing the energy blast to obliterate the summit of a nearby mountain. This action provided the necessary time to finalize the evacuation.
A pair of Raider-class corvettes came under the control of a raider crew who encountered Commander Ellian Zahra. Zahra offered her tactical expertise in exchange for their allegiance. Zahra's crew then attacked the Alderaan Survivor Fleet as a ploy to lure out her rival, General and Princess of Alderaan Leia Organa, seeking revenge so she could return to the Imperial Navy and be promoted to Admiral by Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself, whom she met on one of the corvettes. After Jedi Commander Luke Skywalker inflicted damage to the corvette's systems, Zahra's crew, including the other Raider-class corvette, abandoned her on the vessel as the Rebel Alliance Navy approached.
A Raider-class corvette participated in the Battle of Var-Shaa, ultimately being destroyed by New Republic fighter craft. Another Raider-class corvette was seized by a Starhawk-class battleship and subsequently stored within its hangar. The Raider-class corvette proved to be a durable design, surviving beyond the collapse of the Empire in 5 ABY. Decades later, following the emergence of the First Order in 21 ABY, the Raider-class remained in operation, with some examples being operated by collaborators of the First Order.
The Raider-class corvette's inception occurred within Fantasy Flight Games, conceived to address a need within their Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, a product now designated as Legends material. The visual design of the corvette was conceptualized and executed by the artist Ben Zweifel.
The ship's official reintroduction into canon occurred via the Thrawn novel in 2017. However, wreckage appearing in The Force Awakens (2015) bears resemblance to a Raider-class. When queried on Twitter, Matt Martin expressed that while the resemblance was noted, he doubted that ILM had specifically created a model for this particular ship.